Comments on: Tony Blair tells Cabinet he will quit.

Tony Blair tells Cabinet he will quit.

plep — Thu, 10 May 2007 03:56:41 -0800

Tony Blair tells Cabinet he will quit.

By: plep

plep — Thu, 10 May 2007 03:56:56 -0800

The Blair story.

By: Kiell

Kiell — Thu, 10 May 2007 03:58:11 -0800

Er. Thanks.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:01:24 -0800

Hasn't he been saying this for months? Just go and do it already!

By: plep

plep — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:03:33 -0800

Just go and do it already! He just did.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:08:19 -0800

Don't worry, plep! We'll go down to the pound tomorrow and get George Bush a new lap dog!

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:08:44 -0800

They're broadcasting his speech live on Chinese telly right now. I forgot how much I disliked his speaking style.

By: lemonfridge

lemonfridge — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:12:50 -0800

June 27th!

By: MrMustard

MrMustard — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:18:32 -0800

About 4 years too late. (Blair's resignation, not this post.)

By: twistedonion

twistedonion — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:20:04 -0800

All he was waiting for was for Stormont to get back to business. He's got his legacy. Peace in a tiny little province still doesn't quite wash the blood of hundreds of thousands from his hands.

By: spitbull

spitbull — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:20:21 -0800

Buhbye, asshole. Man had some good ideas and style, but he threw it all away on a sucker bet.

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:22:37 -0800

More here It looks as though Mr Brown has rivals.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:29:19 -0800

So, any chance of them growing some fucking bollocks and going back to being Old Labour?

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:30:43 -0800

The real news this week is no more fucking John Reid telling us we're all about to be killed if we don't trust him.

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:32:31 -0800

Jimbob - about as much chance as the GOP going back to being fiscally conservative.

By: twistedonion

twistedonion — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:35:06 -0800

So, any chance of them growing some fucking bollocks and going back to being Old Labour? Wouldn't that be amazing, until the voters shat themselves at the possibility of a return to the late 70's and voted for Cameron in the next election. We desperately need some new parties rather than rehashes of the same old shite.

By: Acey

Acey — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:35:41 -0800

Is this the part where he hits the self-destruct button on his way out the door?

By: Methylviolet

Methylviolet — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:44:21 -0800

Bush' poodle, but not Homer's corgi.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:49:37 -0800

Lest we forget, the "Blair doctrine."

By: empath

empath — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:52:13 -0800

He acknowledged his government had not always lived up to high expectations but said he had been very lucky to lead "the greatest nation on earth". Why is every country the greatest nation on earth? Are their heads of states of any countries willing to admit that they're mediocre, at best?

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:56:47 -0800

Oh, well, he is right about that by any objective metric, empath. Abroad is just shit and foreigners are funny. Some of you don't even have a Queen, for God's sake.

By: Happy Dave

Happy Dave — Thu, 10 May 2007 05:04:57 -0800

The party's over.

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Thu, 10 May 2007 05:10:15 -0800

empath asks Why is every country the greatest nation on earth? Are their heads of states of any countries willing to admit that they're mediocre, at best? Which country do you mean?

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Thu, 10 May 2007 05:12:22 -0800

It's amazing. I remember when he first became PM and there was all this talk about what a dynamic and high-potential leader he was going to be, and I think he was to a great degree in the Clinton years. And now he'll be remembered for virtually nothing except the embarrassment that was Iraq. Clinton has good and bad moments in his tenure as well and lost his legacy over the Lewinsky scandal. Iraq is Tony Blair's regrettable blowjob. It's amazing how anyone connected to Bush, even across oceans, is destroyed by association. Remember when Colin Powell, Tom Ridge, and Christie Whitman were potential Vice-Presidents? Bush is a King Midas of shit.

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Thu, 10 May 2007 05:16:03 -0800

Tony Blair's a brilliant Labourite. Brilliant enough to make Britain nostalgic for Margaret Thatcher. And he makes such a cute poodle.

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Thu, 10 May 2007 05:18:51 -0800

XQUZYPHYR writes "It's amazing how anyone connected to Bush, even across oceans, is destroyed by association." Still waiting for the implosions of Paul Martin and John Howard.

By: quarsan

quarsan — Thu, 10 May 2007 05:20:32 -0800

The Happiest Man in Britain - shoot me, it's a self link.

By: Phanx

Phanx — Thu, 10 May 2007 05:22:26 -0800

Harold Wilson did it best: one day operating normally with an unshakable grip on power: the next, resigned and gone. Blair was the first Labour leader to provide a programme with no ideological content at all, just managerialism and modernisation. The irony is that his government was rubbish at management, and made a hash of most of its modernisation projects. Maybe good managers need some inspiring ideals after all.

By: salmacis

salmacis — Thu, 10 May 2007 05:40:48 -0800

Brilliant enough to make Britain nostalgic for Margaret Thatcher. Er, no.

By: informity

informity — Thu, 10 May 2007 06:11:58 -0800

Brilliant enough to make Britain nostalgic for Margaret Thatcher. Blair maybe unpopular now, but I do not believe that anyone who used to hate Maggie is now thinking back to the good old Thatcher era! I have lived in Wales for 10 years, and the hatred towards Thatcher is still very deep and very personal. She really screwed over this beautiful country. As for Blair, of course you can talk for ages about all the bad things, but one of the things I am truly grateful for is the amount of Equality Legislation that came in under his watch. I now have the right not to be sacked from my job because of my sexuality, can get "married", adopt, have the rights to good and services to name but a few.

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Thu, 10 May 2007 06:12:50 -0800

Iraq is Tony Blair's regrettable blowjob. That's incredibly charitable, XQUZYPHYR. Yesterday's bout with Ann Althouse must have taken some of the wind out of your sails. Sod off Tony. Here's hoping the door of No. 10 hits you in the ass on your way out.

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Thu, 10 May 2007 06:27:10 -0800

Are their heads of states of any countries willing to admit that they're mediocre, at best? This is the first time I've heard anyone refer to Britain that way. I think his point was that Britain is the greatest country on Earth, I made it that way, and you're all a bunch of ungrateful fucktards.

By: quarsan

quarsan — Thu, 10 May 2007 06:39:02 -0800

Can't we make Tony a write-in candidate in the next Iraqi elections?

By: brownpau

brownpau — Thu, 10 May 2007 06:41:35 -0800

...but said he had been very lucky to lead "the greatest nation on earth". No, wrong.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Thu, 10 May 2007 06:49:14 -0800

Each morning I tell my [medicine] cabinet I'm going to quit. So far it hasn't taken me up on it.

By: Freon

Freon — Thu, 10 May 2007 07:04:25 -0800

Vote Saxon

By: Avenger

Avenger — Thu, 10 May 2007 07:05:53 -0800

Well, I, for one, will be supporing Norsefire in the next round of elections.

By: Mr Bismarck

Mr Bismarck — Thu, 10 May 2007 07:13:30 -0800

""I decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally, and I did so out of belief," he said of his decision to support America's invasion of Iraq. "I may have been wrong. That's your call."" Dear Tony...

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Thu, 10 May 2007 07:33:38 -0800

Vote Saxon BAD WOLF!

By: afx237vi

afx237vi — Thu, 10 May 2007 07:38:45 -0800

Brilliant enough to make Britain nostalgic for Margaret Thatcher. You have got to be kidding. Blair is unpopular, but he is a GOD compared to Thatcher. You have no idea how absolutely fucking hated that woman is in some parts of Britain. If she ever set foot in the South Wales Valleys, I swear there would be mobs of people eagerly waiting to beat her to death. And that's 20 years on.

By: dreamsign

dreamsign — Thu, 10 May 2007 07:43:30 -0800

Embarassment? Regrettable blowjob? Clearly, I need to suck on a mass-murderer scale, so I can be given such cute attributions.

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Thu, 10 May 2007 07:56:31 -0800

afx237vi said You have no idea how absolutely fucking hated that woman is in some parts of Britain. If she ever set foot in the South Wales Valleys, I swear there would be mobs of people eagerly waiting to beat her to death. And that's 20 years on. I know how hated she is, and I'm in the Midlands. People here wouldn't piss on her if she were on fire... they'd fan the flames. By all accounts, she nearly destroyed this country. *ahem* Here's an analysis of Tony's decade in charge.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:01:36 -0800

He acknowledged his government had not always lived up to high expectations but said he had been very lucky to lead "the greatest nation on earth". then why do so many scots and welsh want out?

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:05:08 -0800

My point was that both leaders chose a mind-bogglingly stupid course of action for no logical purpose that will ultimately be the only thing most people will remember them for despite years of prior notable and worthwhile work. I wasn't suggesting the acts themselves had the same level of severity. And if you think "embarrassment" isn't an apt term to describe Blair's acts post-Iraq at this point, you should really look for tape of some of his public apologies. There are crack whores at rent time who have managed to maintain more dignity.

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:06:16 -0800

Why is every country the greatest nation on earth? Oh England. Wake me when you're able to stand up to your tax-money devouring queen and we'll talk about letting you into the league of nations who might have a clue. Any country that still bends over for noble blood, well, the less said the better.

By: dreamsign

dreamsign — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:15:22 -0800

Ok, point taken, XQUZYPHYR. And you make me actually want to hunt down those tapes. But no logical purpose? It was all logic and no heart on the Bush's part. Not sure what Blair thought to gain but I suspect it was cold, bloody logic, also. See Yeah, we'll remember. And they'll have 16 permanent bases in Iraq. Somehow I don't count that as a win.

By: Methylviolet

Methylviolet — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:16:17 -0800

I wish I could find a Blair speech I heard on NPR circa 2003, where he addressed the poodle accusation directly. He was funny and articulate and I was liking him very much, even though I disagreed, and I remember thinking -- why can't we have a president who can speak like that? Our current president can't open his mouth without embarrassing us all, of course, but even past presidents have been so locked in to the anti-intellectual, just-folks, fake sincerity thing we in America seem to prize, that no one since Kennedy has even tried for eloquence. Say what you will about the English, they certainly speak English well.

By: Phanx

Phanx — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:30:45 -0800

Wake me when you're able to stand up to your tax-money devouring queen ... Yeah, George Washington, you wake me up when your tax-money devouring President has given you your Habeas Corpus back.

By: Aloysius Bear

Aloysius Bear — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:47:04 -0800

Yeah, damn dirty ape, I find the 62p per person per year the monarchy costs to be a real hardship.

By: edd

edd — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:53:00 -0800

'Wake me when you're able to stand up to your tax-money devouring queen and we'll talk about letting you into the league of nations who might have a clue. Any country that still bends over for noble blood, well, the less said the better.' The reason the country 'still bends over for noble blood' is that most of the population chooses to. I think they shouldn't, I do not, and noone's going to come knocking on my door in the middle of the night for saying so. I struggle to see what the problem is except that a lot of people in my country have some funny ideas when it comes to politics. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems to happen in other countries too.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:53:13 -0800

Well thanks for bringing us the news, plep, but don't be such a stranger - your posts are missed!

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:04:07 -0800

I remember how exciting Blair was when he first became Prime Minister. Seeing the movie The Queen this winter brought it all back. Guy's a damn good politician. Too bad he had to piss it all away on Iraq.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:05:48 -0800

Let me rephrase that. Fuck Blair for being responsible for the giant fucking goddamn clusterfuck of a massacre that is the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:22:04 -0800

Too bad. He was so precious in The Queen.

By: dougzilla

dougzilla — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:30:19 -0800

Have you folks seen the Channel 4 production The Trial of Tony Blair? It is a very interesting "what if?" scenario. Here is a sample of it on YouTube.

By: hoverboards don't work on water

hoverboards don't work on water — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:37:23 -0800

Boy is this place going to be ugly when Thatcher finally dies...

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:40:27 -0800

Tony Blair is talking to the cupboards? That is news.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:42:21 -0800

Yeah, damn dirty ape, I find the 62p per person per year the monarchy costs to be a real hardship. Do you live in the UK now?

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:45:46 -0800

the poodle says "toodles!" ; > So, is Brown any good? Will he pull you out of Iraq?

By: dreamsign

dreamsign — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:52:00 -0800

Boy is this place going to be ugly when Thatcher finally dies... Naw. I bet you could get hundreds of "."s for her even before she goes. Oh wait...

By: Aloysius Bear

Aloysius Bear — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:54:54 -0800

BP: Do you live in the UK now? "Now"? As opposed to when? Yes, I do, and always have.

By: Artw

Artw — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:55:15 -0800

Well, how did it go when Pinochet died?

By: Artw

Artw — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:56:05 -0800

Oh dear.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 10 May 2007 10:05:02 -0800

If you want to see what Thatcher's thread will look like, find the Reagan thread.

By: Artw

Artw — Thu, 10 May 2007 10:09:01 -0800

Stalin, of course, would get nothing but glowing praise.

By: Aloysius Bear

Aloysius Bear — Thu, 10 May 2007 10:09:17 -0800

hoverboards, the thought of the Thatcher mefi thread could be used to terrify small children. amberglow, Brown may well be less pro-Bush than Blair, but I can't see him doing anything especially radical with regard to Iraq. As for everything else, we'll just have to wait and see. He may be marginally less "New Labour" than Blair on social issues, but economically he's no different from Blair. Blazecock Pileon: Er, my last comment sounded a bit arsey. I should have just said 'Yes'.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 10 May 2007 11:31:19 -0800

If he's no different on Iraq, how can he possibly win in the next election? Blair ignored the people about Iraq, and if Brown does the same...

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 10 May 2007 11:37:58 -0800

I recall a scene in BBC's "Coupling" when two of the characters (i forget their names) started arguing over Whigs and Tories and whether or not Thatcher was better than Blair. It was hilarious from my perspective cuz it sounded just like arguments here in the states between liberal and conservative thinkers. X is right Y is wrong or vice versa.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 10 May 2007 11:39:23 -0800

A reminder about Blair and us: ... he was more significant in selling the Iraq War in the United States than is commonly recognized. Lots and lots of Democrats who would never in a million years have taken George W. Bush's word for it that there was this huge Iraqi WMD threat and a reasonable American military plan to take it out, were perfectly prepared to be convinced by the fact that Blair, ...

By: Aloysius Bear

Aloysius Bear — Thu, 10 May 2007 11:57:16 -0800

If he's no different on Iraq, how can he possibly win in the next election? Blair ignored the people about Iraq, and if Brown does the same... If Brown does the same... he may well win the next election anyway. The Tories supported the war, and can't (and won't) take a "troops-out-now" stance, and the Lib Dems will never come close to winning. So although Iraq is a handicap for Brown, it isn't by itself going to stop him from winning the next election. Remember, Blair won the general election in 2005, two years after taking us into Iraq.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 10 May 2007 12:09:30 -0800

ok. good luck tho. I hear that Cameron is actually popular there.

By: Marquis

Marquis — Thu, 10 May 2007 12:09:40 -0800

orthogonality wrote: Still waiting for the implosions of Paul Martin and John Howard. Uhhh, you realise Paul Martin failed to win a majority in a single election and resigned in failure a year ago, right?

By: Artw

Artw — Thu, 10 May 2007 12:32:17 -0800

Australia remains as far-right as ever though. Weird that it has such a liberal image abroad.

By: Aloysius Bear

Aloysius Bear — Thu, 10 May 2007 13:59:27 -0800

I really hated the bit when he declared that Britain is "the greatest nation on earth." This struck me as a very unBritish statement. My faith in my fellow countrymen was, however, restored by the fact that this declaration was greeted with lukewarm applause, rather than whoops and standing ovations. Further discussion at Crooked Timber.

By: Sparx

Sparx — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:25:19 -0800

I wonder. If he had actually stood up against the false pretences the US was using to drag 'allies' into the 'war on terror', would we now be comparing him to churchill rather than thatcher? Would he even have had to step down? It's wrong to claim the man didn't do any good. Informity makes some perspicacious points. But, according to the laws of narrative, there's always a defining moment. And Blair, ultimately, fucked his up. Better luck next life, dude.

By: Phanx

Phanx — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:48:13 -0800

The 'greatest nation' bit is possibly a subtle dig at Thatcher, who when she lost the PM job took the first opportunity to announce that she considered the USA the best country in the world, leaving her loyal supporter with a taste of sour grapes, IIRC.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:22:11 -0800

Two found guilty over Bush-Blair memo leak

By: kaemaril

kaemaril — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:06:53 -0800

I hope some country, somewhere, wherever he's visiting, has the bottle to arrest him and put him on trial for war crimes. It'll never happen, but it damn well should.

By: wilful

wilful — Thu, 10 May 2007 20:20:34 -0800

From a limited perspective on the other side of the world, Tony Blair looked pretty awesome, apart from that Iraq thing. He was great for your economy and successfully steered Labor smack into the middle of politics. Would have rather preferred ten years with him that the time we've had with the gold-toothed rodent.

By: vbfg

vbfg — Fri, 11 May 2007 04:45:42 -0800

Yeah, damn dirty ape, I find the 62p per person per year the monarchy costs to be a real hardship. So do I. I suggest pay per view executions to recoup the costs.

By: vbfg

vbfg — Fri, 11 May 2007 04:50:08 -0800

I hear that Cameron is actually popular there. Amongst the financial backers of pay per view executions, yes.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 11 May 2007 12:30:26 -0800

Watch out--young voters who don't remember the Thatcher days will go Cameron. It happens here every 20 years (Nixon, Reagan, Bush).

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 11 May 2007 14:23:29 -0800

Maybe we won't get the stupid ID card scheme after all. If that's the case it's one less reason to hate Labour. Interestingly they seem to be making a lot of concillatory noises about how maybe they were wrong over Iraq as well.

By: chuq

chuq — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:03:07 -0800

Boy is this place going to be ugly when Thatcher finally dies... "And when they finally / put you in the ground / I'll stand on your grave / and tramp the dirt down." Kinda like that, I expect.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:51:45 -0800

"Two found guilty over Bush-Blair memo leak" Without clicking on the link, I'm gonna guess the two found guilty are Bush and Blair. What do I win?

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 11 May 2007 18:57:14 -0800

oops

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 11 May 2007 19:30:30 -0800

This is good, if true: Gordon Brown vowed yesterday to take on President George W Bush and the Americans over foreign policy as he spelt out plans to break from Tony Blair's approach to the "war on terror". ...

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:03:59 -0800

...Blair was exactly what George W. Bush needed to sell his fraudulent and immoral war in Iraq to the American public: a seemingly reasonable and non-partisan stamp of international approval (after all, he'd been bosom buddies with Bill Clinton, hadn't he?). Blair enabled the Bush myth that the invasion of Iraq was a coalition effort, that it wasn't just Mongolia, Moldova, Singapore, Poland, and Tonga making up the Coalition of the Willing to Go Along. It was Britain. Great Britain. More than being just Bush and Cheney's cheery wingman, Blair was one of their top salesmen, pitching sexed up dossiers, Nigeran yellowcake, and the specter of chemical weapons "ready within 45 minutes" raining down on Europe. ...

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sun, 13 May 2007 14:58:47 -0800

This is a great stunt for Cameron--i wonder if it works on people?

By: homunculus

homunculus — Mon, 14 May 2007 23:50:35 -0800

A very public secret: The Old Bailey's decision to impose reporting restrictions on the Blair-Bush memo case is an unprecedented attempt to hush up something said in the open.